


i hate u, i love u

by justyrae



Series: cat nouis [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, Fluff, Gen, Human!Harry, Human!Liam, M/M, cat!louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 22:30:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14199024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: Louis likes things just as they are. He doesn’t need anything or anyone else, so why should Harry?





	i hate u, i love u

**Author's Note:**

> I NEVER MEANT TO WRITE A PREQUEL BUT HERE WE ALL ARE AGAIN. i'm hopelessly addicted to this verse.
> 
> thank u to **akai-coat** for indulging me when i text u in all caps about everything related to this verse. thank u to **dearmrsawyer** for betaing every cat fic i throw at u. thank u to the cat nouis fan club gc for always demanding more cat nouis. sorry there's no niall in this one but seeing as how it's a _prequel_ , u knew that already.

Louis' favorite days are the days when the loud buzzer doesn't go off in the early morning. He isn't jerked out of sleep by the terrible sound, and Harry doesn't have to get out of bed and leave Louis all alone. Louis likes being able to wake up all on his own. And he especially likes when he can wake up in one spot and then crawl on top of Harry and go back to sleep.

His favorite spot is on Harry's chest with his head tucked under Harry's chin. He used to be able to fit in that spot so well but it's getting a little harder these days. He's gotten bigger, which is helpful when he's trying to jump onto the couch, but Harry doesn't let him sit on his chest for as long as he used to.

The non-buzzer days are also his favorite because he gets a special breakfast on those days. Sometimes Harry makes little sausages, or sometimes he makes bacon; he'll cut some up just for Louis and it's the absolute _best_.

And what's even better is that Harry will spend all day with Louis, lounging on the couch or cuddling in bed. Harry doesn't have to leave on those days, he can just spend time petting Louis or cuddling Louis or letting Louis sleep on his lap. Louis loves those days. He loves being the sole object of Harry's attention, which is how it always should be.

But lately, things have been changing. Sometimes Harry _does_ leave on those days. He doesn't leave for long, and he's always back in time to feed Louis, but it's the principle of the thing. Louis doesn't like being left alone when he doesn't have to be.

And sometimes… another human comes over and Harry doesn't pay attention to Louis nearly as much as he should.

This other human is named Liam, and Louis doesn't like him very much. He remembers when Liam first showed up. He sat on the couch in Louis' spot and bogarted Harry's attention for _hours_. Louis hated every minute of it.

Louis might've bitten him. Just a little. Harry wasn't happy about that, but Louis wouldn't have bitten him in the first place if Harry hadn't let Liam into the house.

It's their house, Louis and Harry's. Nobody else's.

Louis doesn't know when that changed.

*

Harry's been on edge all morning. Louis knows something's coming, he knows something's making Harry act all weird. He tries to remember the last time Harry acted this weird, but it's hard. Louis can only remember so many things, and there are a lot more important things than whatever's making Harry weird.

He has to remember where Harry keeps the treats (in case Harry forgets), and he has to remember where he hid the plastic caps that Harry left out for him, and lots of other super important things.

Louis tries to make Harry feel better by getting out all his very best toys. All the ones Louis hasn't ripped into bits (yet). Harry usually likes when Louis gathers all of his toys in the living room, but today it doesn't have the same effect and Louis is frustrated.

_No, I brought those out for you._ He bounds after Harry, who's scooped up all the toys and is taking them back to where Louis got them. _Why don't you want them?_

He follows Harry upstairs and jumps onto the bed, meowing in frustration. Harry scoops him up and tucks Louis under his arm. Louis doesn't like that.

_Why can't I be on the bed? Harry, what's going on?_

Harry's mumbling to himself and not paying attention. He keeps Louis tucked under his arm as he goes back downstairs and then plops him down on the couch. Louis meows at him again as Harry disappears into the kitchen, and Louis' meow turns pitiful.

He doesn't like this. Whatever's making Harry be weird isn't a good thing, and Louis hates it.

_Come lie down,_ he meows. _A cuddle will make you feel better_.

But Harry doesn't come lie down. The doorbell rings shortly after, and Harry answers the door instead. Louis' tail twitches angrily when Liam comes into view.

Now he knows what's making Harry act all weird. It’s Liam.

"Do you want something to drink?" Harry asks, stumbling over his own two feet as he leads Liam towards the kitchen. Liam laughs a little and puts his hand on the small of Harry's back as he follows, answering in the affirmative.

Louis' ears go flat. He jumps down from the couch and goes into the kitchen. He's going to give Liam a piece of his mind for making Harry act weird all morning.

Harry and Liam are being even weirder when Louis comes around the corner. They're pressed up against one of the cabinets and making a lot of wet noises that Louis doesn't understand. He trots over and tries to get their attention by pawing at their legs. It doesn't work very well.

He doesn't _really_ mean to sink his claws into Liam's ankle, it just happens.

"Ow!" Liam hisses. He stumbles backwards, just barely avoiding trodding on Louis' tail.

"Louis, no," Harry says.

_He deserved it_. Louis looks up at the two of them. _You've been weird all morning and it's Liam's fault._

"Sorry," Harry says as he reaches for Liam again. "He's just…"

"A little menace, aren't you?" Liam says as he nudges Louis with his foot. This time, Louis means it when he sinks his teeth and claws into Liam's shoe.

"Louis, no!" Harry says again, this time scooping him up and taking him out of the kitchen. He puts Louis down on the couch and thumps his nose. "Be nice, Lou."

Louis swipes his paw at Harry's hand. _He started it. He made you weird._

"Maybe," Liam comes up behind Harry and clears his throat, "we should go upstairs?"

_Maybe you should go home._

"Yeah?" Harry says as he turns around and takes Liam's hands in his own. "C'mon, then."

Louis watches them with a cross look, his ears flat against his head and tail twitching wildly, but doesn't move as they disappear upstairs.

_Stupid Liam._

Louis jumps down off the couch and trots back into the kitchen. First, food. Then, revenge.

After he's had his fill, he spots something up on the table that definitely wasn't there before. He gets curious and jumps up onto the chair, putting his two front paws on the table to hoist himself up the rest of the way.

It's a set of keys, some square thing, and a phone. The keys look similar to Harry's, but they don't have the same keychain that Harry does. He touches the keys with his paw and they jingle slightly. He pushes them a few inches, and then a few more, until they clatter to the floor.

_That was fun_. Louis starts pushing the square thing next. It's a little heavier than the keys and takes a bit more effort, but soon it tumbles down onto the floor next to the keys with a satisfying flop.

_I like this._ Louis sets his eyes on the phone and starts pushing it towards the edge of the table.

It makes a much bigger sound when it hits the floor, but neither Liam nor Harry come to investigate. Louis peers down at the mess he's made and pauses to clean his paw. He's quite proud of himself.

_Serves him right. Leaving his things around like he owns the place._

Louis jumps down off the table and prods at the phone. It crunches a little under the pressure and Louis' tail twitches in satisfaction.

A loud thump comes from upstairs and Louis' head snaps towards the ceiling for a moment before he trots out of the kitchen and heads for the stairs. He takes them two at a time (which is quite fast, considering he usually prefers a nice leisurely climb) and goes in search of what caused the thump.

He finds Harry and Liam in the bedroom, all pressed up against each other again only this time they're horizontal on the bed. To get a better look, Louis jumps up onto the bed and climbs up onto Liam's back. Nobody's allowed to be that close to Harry's chest unless it's Louis, thank you very much. It's _his_ spot, he claimed it!!

It works faster than if a bucket of cold water had been thrown onto the two of them. Liam freezes, very slowly turning his head until he can see Louis peering down at the two of them over his shoulder.

"Louis, what're you doing?" Liam says while Harry's trying in vain not to laugh.

_I could ask you the same question_.

"Louis, go on. Get down." Harry bats his hand at Louis, but Louis ducks.

_This is my bed too, y'know._

"Should've closed the door," Liam says as he shifts his shoulders back and forth, trying to dislodge Louis without just pushing him right off.

It doesn't work. Louis digs in his claws. Liam cries out in pain and jerks upward, sending Louis tumbling down to the bed anyway. Even he can't hold himself to Liam's back when gravity suddenly changes.

"Louis!" Harry scolds. "Bad kitty!"

_Me?? Bad kitty?? Bad human!!!_

"Go on," Harry says, shooing Louis off the bed and out of the bedroom. "Bad kitties don't get to stay in the bedroom."

_But--_

The door shuts in Louis' face and he meows weakly.

_Harry? Where'd you go?_

Louis starts pawing at the door and yowling. He hates closed doors. He doesn't like not knowing what's going on. Harry knows this. He never shuts the door on Louis unless it's the outside door. Louis doesn't like the outside so it's the only door he'll accept being closed.

_Harry!! Come back!!_

He continues to kick up a fuss outside the door for as long as it takes Harry to open it again. He would've kept it up all night, if he had to, but Harry gives in after about ten minutes.

He looks exasperated when he opens the door, but Louis wastes no time darting in between his legs and jumping back up onto the bed. Liam's still there, lounging on his side on the bed and giving Louis a wary look.

Louis thwacks him in the face with his tail as he turns around to meow at Harry.

_I don't like being left out, you know that._

"I know, I know. You hate closed doors."

Harry climbs onto the bed and Louis immediately crawls into his lap, rubbing his face against Harry's bare chest and starting to purr.

_I need attention._

"He loves you," Liam says. "A lot, huh?"

"You could say that," Harry says with a soft laugh. Louis stands on his hind legs for a moment, just so he can brush his head up against the underside of Harry's chin.

_You're my favorite human. You can't leave me._

"Sorry," Harry says. "Bit of a mood killer, hmm?"

"It's okay," Liam says as he hesitantly reaches out to pet Louis' back.

_Did I say you could touch me?_ Louis shudders, pressing up against Harry even more so he's further away from Liam's hand.

"Maybe we could try mine, next time. I could ask my flatmate to piss off for a bit."

"Yeah?" Harry smiles. "That could work."

_Hey._ Louis presses his paw against Harry's hand. _Pet me._

*

Liam doesn't come over for a while after that. Louis starts to think that maybe he's done it, he's scared Liam off and he'll have Harry all to himself again. He sleeps very soundly at night (and in the morning, and in the afternoon) with this thought in mind.

But then one of those good mornings rolls around, when Louis is all happy and full of bacon, and Harry starts getting ready to leave in the mid-afternoon. Louis doesn't understand.

_No, no, no, this is my day. You're not supposed to leave._

"Louis, where did you put my keys?"

_You gave them to me. You're not supposed to need them._

"Where are they?" Harry sing-songs as he crouches down onto the carpet. Louis rubs up against the side of Harry's head.

_They're mine. You promised._

"C'mon, Lou. Where'd you put them?"

_Not telling._

"Ah-ha!" Harry jingles the keys once he's pulled them out from under the sofa.

_Dammit._

Louis runs to keep up with Harry as he heads for the front door, meowing pitifully the whole way.

"Don't worry," he says as he bends down to scratch Louis behind his ears. "I'll be home before you know it, I promise."

_You're not supposed to leave at all. This isn't fair._

"Love you, Lou." Harry presses a kiss to the top of Louis' head and then stands up.

_No, don't go._ Louis stands up on his hind legs and paws at Harry's knee as Harry opens the door. _I don't want you to go._

"Bye, Lou! Be good!" Harry calls as he steps over the threshold, being mindful of where Louis is before he closes the door behind him.

_Harry?_ Louis meows sadly. _Harry, come back._

He sits by the door for a while. He keeps hoping that maybe it was a fluke, that Harry will pop back through the door and say "just kidding!" and come curl up on the sofa with him for the rest of the day.

But then an hour goes by. And another. The sun shifts as it comes through the window and Louis moves to follow it, but he tries to stay as close to the door as he can. He wants to make sure that he's right there when Harry comes home.

He starts getting worried when the sun goes down. It's dark in the house, and even though Louis can see perfectly fine in the dark, he still doesn't like it very much.

_Harry where are you? You're supposed to be home and you're not_.

Louis goes into the kitchen and eats what's left in his food dish, but there isn't very much. A few bites of dry food leftover from lunchtime and then it's empty. Louis meows sadly and paws at the bowl, but there's nobody around to fill it back up.

_Harry, I'm hungry. Why aren't you home?_

Time ticks by and Harry still doesn't come home. Louis eventually goes upstairs to the bedroom and curls up on Harry's pillow. It smells so much like him that it's both comforting and upsetting, and Louis just howls.

He just wants Harry to come home.

*

Louis wakes up the following morning to the front door slamming closed and Harry shouting his name. He's still curled up on Harry's pillow, but his despair from the night before has morphed into resentment and he doesn't want to see Harry right now.

So he jumps down and hides under the bed.

Harry comes running up the stairs a few minutes later and calls out Louis' name again. Louis stays under the bed and doesn't make a sound. It's not long before Harry drops to his knees and checks under there, collapsing with relief when he sees Louis staring back at him.

"There you are."

_You've been gone for ages._

"C'mere, Lou." Harry reaches out and tries to coax Louis out, but Louis isn't having it.

_You were gone all night_.

"I'm sorry," Harry says pleadingly. "Please come out?"

_No, I'm mad at you. You left me all alone._

"You must be hungry, Lou. Come on out and I'll give you lots of treats."

_Where were you? Why didn't you come home?_

"Louis, please. Please come out."

_No. You left me._

Harry sighs heavily and taps his hand against the carpet. Louis doesn't think he'll try and force him out, that's not something Harry's ever done.

"I'll be right back, Lou. Promise." Harry disappears from sight, and Louis' nose twitches.

_You promised before._ Louis shifts around until his back is facing where Harry used to be. _And you didn't come back._

But Harry does come back this time. He's back on the floor of the bedroom within five minutes, and this time he's brought food and treats. He shakes the bowl of dry food to get Louis' attention, trying to sweeten the deal by making kissy noises to coax Louis out from under the bed.

"Louis," he says sweetly, "come eat. Please?"

If there's one thing Louis can't deny, it's that he's really, _really_ hungry.

_Fine. You win._

Louis crawls out from under the bed very slowly. Harry backs up to give him space, letting him go at his own pace and making sure the food is immediately accessible. Louis usually hates when Harry just sits and stares at him while he eats, but today he doesn't even care.

It takes Louis almost no time at all to devour the bowl of food that Harry's brought up. He eats so much so fast that even he himself is surprised when the bowl is suddenly empty. He looks up at Harry as he licks his chops and Harry cracks a smile.

"There's my good boy. Want some treats?"

_Yes. Obviously._

Harry doles out the treats he brought in a row, and then takes Louis' food dish in his hand.

"I'll be right back," he says again. He runs out of the room and leaves Louis to his treats, dashing back downstairs to get him more food.

Louis has finished all of the treats by the time Harry gets back.

_I'd say you should abandon me more often_ , Louis meows as Harry sets another dish of food in front of him, _but I didn't like it at all._

"My sweet Lou," Harry says softly as he gently pets Louis' head. "I didn't mean to leave you all alone, I'm so sorry."

_You're back now. Don't go away again._

Harry takes his hand away from Louis' head and Louis stops eating for a moment to look at what Harry's doing, growling a little under his breath when he sees that Harry's looking at his stupid phone.

"Hey," he says as he holds the phone up to his ear and breathes a sigh of relief. "Yeah, sorry, I meant to text when I got in, but then I couldn't find Louis."

Louis goes back to eating. He's not even really hungry anymore, but he doesn't want to take any chances. Who knows if Harry will disappear again tonight? He'll stock up just in case.

"He was hiding under the bed," Harry continues, "but he's out now and he's eating. I just…" Harry sighs. "I can't believe I forgot, Liam. I never forget. Never."

Louis suddenly doesn't feel well. His stomach feels weird and he doesn't want to eat anymore. He growls a little and curls in on himself, turning away from Harry.

"No, I'm not saying that last night wasn't… that's not what I meant, Liam."

_Harry, something's wrong. I don't…_

Within fifteen seconds, Louis has lost every bit of food he's just eaten all over the bedroom carpet.

"Oh no, oh _no_ ," Harry cries, "Louis just got sick, I can't-- No, I have to go, Liam, Louis is sick!"

Louis isn't _really_ sick, as it turns out. He just ate too much too fast on an empty stomach. (Harry discovers this after several minutes of furious googling and phoning the emergency vet. The advice he gets is to make sure Louis stays hydrated and to not overfeed him.)

But in any case, Harry barely lets Louis out of his sight after the incident. He dotes on him, carries him literally everywhere, and gives him at least a thousand kisses in the span of an hour. Louis loves every second of it.

_I'm your favorite. I knew you knew this, but it's nice that you've remembered._

*

They're curled up on the couch together watching a movie when the doorbell suddenly rings. Harry carefully dislodges Louis from his lap, keeping him half-wrapped in the blanket so he stays put while Harry goes to the door.

Louis is not happy at all to see Liam step through the door a minute later. He's got a box in his arms and Harry looks a mixture of confused and cross, though Louis is hoping he's leaning more towards the latter.

"What's all that?" Harry asks as Liam cautiously steps into the living room, getting about halfway between the couch and the doorway.

"Well, you sounded really upset on the phone," Liam explains as he kneels down on the floor, setting the box down and starting to pull things out of it. "And you said that Louis was sick, so I went by the pet store and a very nice lady helped me get some things that might help."

"You did… what?"

_What's in the box?_ Louis cranes his neck to see into the box, but he can't quite manage it. He doesn't have to wait all that long to find out, however, because Liam empties it rather quickly.

"I got a couple different types of food, both wet and dry because the lady said that wet food is better for hydration but the dry stuff doesn't mess with their digestion as much? I've never had a cat so I dunno if she knew what she was talking about, but it sounded good when she said it."

Louis carefully climbs out of the blanket and down off the couch. He's still curious about this box, even though now he knows there's nothing inside of it.

"And I got some treats that she also said are good for digestion as well as the treats I saw here last time. I wanted a backup in case he hated all the other treats, y'know?"

Louis looks at Harry to see if he's going to get in trouble for being off the couch, but Harry's far too busy staring at Liam with a smile on his face.

_Good. Keep him distracted, Liam._

The thing is, Harry _never_ lets Louis play in boxes. He always breaks them down to put in the bin before Louis can get to them. But with Harry distracted and Liam not knowing the box rule, Louis can finally get his chance.

"And I also got him some new toys for when he's feeling better. There are some ones with feathers and crinkly bits, and I thought he might like ones with catnip in, too. Also I found these tiny balls with bells, but I didn't end up getting those because, well, Louis is a bit of a menace and the last thing you need is for him to keep you up all night with the bells and stuff."

Louis jumps into the box and one of the flaps brushes against the side loudly as he goes down into it, catching both Harry's and Liam's attention.

_What?_

"And now I see that all I needed was the box," Liam says with a chuckle.

_I like this box. This is my box now. You can't have it back._

Harry wraps himself around Liam and kisses him, whispering thank you over and over while Louis makes himself comfortable inside his box. It's the perfect size for him.

"You didn't have to do all this," Harry says.

"I wanted to," Liam replies. "Louis is important to you."

_You can stay._ Louis closes his eyes and starts purring. _As long as you keep bringing boxes._

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://imlouisaf.tumblr.com)


End file.
